Thank you for your interest, but we have closed signatures and delivered them to the Olympia Capitol groundskeepers. See press coverage of this effort here and here!

You can send your own thank you note to the following address:

Thank you, groundskeepers!

In response to ‘dandelion-gate,’ when senators spent over 20 minutes discussing and complaining about the presence of dandelions on the Olympia Capitol Campus grounds, we’ve written a thank you note to the hardworking grounds crew staff. They have been trying so hard to keep up with all the spring flowers without using pesticides! The Capitol crew has been experimenting with natural and sustainable landscaping, including organic weed control, repurposed compost and leaves used to enrich and activate soils, cardboard and wood chip layers used to suppress unwanted growth, and planting drought tolerate native plants for habitat. These changes make the area a safe and healthy environment for everyone!

Please sign this virtual thank you card and share with friends on social media. We will collect signatures until May 8, 2017 and then deliver to the groundskeeping staff.

The Capitol campus is noticeably full of spring flowers, healthy grass and historic trees!

We appreciate the hard work of the campus grounds crew and the landscapers, horticulturists, arborists, weed pullers, garbage collectors, custodians, and all the workers who take care of Olympia’s incredible and picturesque campus grounds.

Your natural and sustainable efforts make the area a safe and healthy environment for everyone–from senators to pollinators to kids to fish downstream. We appreciate your forward thinking, implementing new landscaping and turf care that reflects our values to end a reliance on harmful chemical pesticides.

I applaud grounds crew for taking the long view, seeing the big picture that benefits us all. The grounds are beautiful and inspiring, and gardening in partnership with nature requires patience. After all, “A weed is but an unloved flower.” -Ella Wheeler Wilcox